This invention relates to the treatment of central nervous system (CNS) disorders caused by infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
HIV infection in humans causes general immunosuppression and involves other disorders, such as myelopathy, vision loss, or a dementing neurological disorder, i.e., the AIDS dementia complex, the latter of which is a common and important cause of morbidity in patients in advanced stages of infection. HIV infection has been documented in various areas of the CNS, including the cerebral cortex, spinal cord, and retina. Price et al. (1988, Science 239:586) and Ho et al. (1989, Annals in Internal Medicine 111:400) review the clinical, epidemiological, and pathological aspects of the AIDS dementia complex, and suggest that the mechanism underlying the neurological dysfunction may be indirect tissue damage by either viral- or cellular-derived toxic substances released by infected cells. In addition to the previously known white matter lesions present in the brains of patients with AIDS related dementia, there is evidence that approximately 20% of the neurons are damaged or die (Ketzler et al., Acta Neuropathologica 80:92, 1990). By HIV we mean to include all types and variants of HIV including HIV-1, HIV-2, LAV, and others.
Pomerantz et al. (1987, New Eng. J. Med. 317:1643) document the presence of HIV type I infection of the retina in two patients with AIDS. Brenneman et al. (1988, Nature 335:639) found gp120, the coat protein of HIV, in killed hoppocampal neurons.